A webinar was organised by the Global and Regional Studies Center (GRSC) organized a seminar on “The Israeli invasion of Gaza , the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe , its ramifications for the Peace and Security in the Middle East and policy options for Pakistan ” on Saturday.
Eminent foreign policy experts which included Ambassador Najmuddin A sheikh and ambassador Mustafa Kamal Qazi were the panelists while Ambassador G Rasool Baluch was the moderator.
In his opening remarks Ambassador Baluch stated that, the current crises is connected to complex Middle East Question which has many dimensions, and vowed to major area sof the criss, including the causes of the latest Israeli invasion, the inabiloity of recently concluded Abraham Accords in achieving the objective of finding solutions for the lasting peace between Israel and Palestinians, reasons of continued US inability to device a balanced policy regarding Palestinian questions, the response of the world in general and of Muslim/Arab world in particular to the Israeli aggression, and the policy options for Pakistan.
During the dicussion, there was a consensus that the present escalation of violence sparked by forced eviction by Israeli authorities, of Palestinians from the sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem and some other Israeli towns where Palestinians have been living for decades, is a reminder to the world community that the Palestine issue remains a tinderbox for peace in the Middle East. The intense firing by Israel has resulted in 240 civilian casualties including over 60 children and destruction of thousands of homes, several hospitals and schools.
The panelists aso argyed that the Israeli aggression and forced evictions have been termed an apartheid and persecution by Amnesty International. The mob attacks on Arab residents of the mixed Israeli neighbourhoods is a new brutal dimension of Israeli oppressive policies against Palestinians the experts further opined. It was underlined that the military jets pounding civilian compounds cannot be justified by any stretch of imagination to be in “self defence” by the Israeli state. The travesty of the Israeli judicial system is disappointing as they have issued orders of eviction for decades old residents violating internationally recognized legal dictum of historical claim.
The International Community in general and the Muslim/ Arab countries in particula did not demonstrate sufficient exigency to bring an early end to the the crisis so that precious lives could be saved and hundreds of millions of material loss could be prevented, the panelists noted. However, they appreciated the constructive role played by the Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan and Prime Minister Imran Khan for bringing about a ceasefire and finding a just solution based on Two states solution. In the conclusion the panelists emphasized the need to find a just and sustainable solution to the Israeli -Paletinin problem so that the two communities can live in peace and prosperity .
